Kazan and the Komuch

The city of Kazan had been occupied by White forces in August 1918. This was part of a potentially catastrophic chain of losses across the Volga region which cut Soviet lines of supply and communications. Over the 5-10 September 1918, three Red forces attacked the city and took back control. As in other theatres of the civil war, the White forces were made up of various groups. Here in Kazan, the main force was the army of the Komuch – the short-lived Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly – aided by the Czechoslovak Legion.

This map comes from a Soviet atlas of the USSR published in 1928. Kazan (КАЗАНЬ) is to the right of the centre of the map, in the off-blue, red-lined area two or so lines of longitude to the right of Moscow (МОСКВА). The great Volga river flows down from the city’s south-east side to be joined by the Kama on its route south to the Caspian.